The history and results of Lantern Club Shines Pink so far

In 2015 Lantern Club formed a partnership with BreastScreen NSW to help raise funds and to improve awareness of the importance of breast screening. The plan was for the entire month of October to turn the entire club pink and host events throughout the month with the aim to raise money to build a new BreastScreen site at Campsie. As it turned out, it was a great success.

In May 2016 Lantern Club attended the official opening of the new Campsie site for BreastScreen NSW and happily handed over a cheque for $100,000 which was raised the previous October.

These funds also went towards building a ‘sensory suite’ which created a much more relaxed environment for the women when getting their scans done.

The sensory suite allows women to choose relaxing scenes on big screens, and experience their associated sounds and smells, reducing anxiety and providing a welcome distraction.

The Campsie centre became dedicated to encouraging women who may not get regular screening because of language or cultural barriers. With Cantonese, Mandarin and Arabic translators available, it makes it much easier for Canterbury’s diverse community to take the step of booking an appointment.

Canterbury Hospital consumer and Muslim Women’s Association representative Wafa Zaim said at the opening of the Campsie centre, having the new centre and the sensory suite will make a big difference to her community.

“Muslim women can be hesitant to access health services. By providing them with easy access to such a suite, and having bilingual workers facilitating the process, we can hopefully work at breaking this down,” she said.

By April of 2016, a total of 931 women had been screened at the new centre and it was noted that 81% of those came from a non-English speaking background.

Cantonese and Mandarin speaking interpreters were made available every Tuesday to assist women with filling in their forms and to explain the mammography process, a total of 174 Chinese-born women had appointments in that short time. There was also a large number of Greek, Vietnamese Arabic-speaking women being scanned as well.

This was only the beginning of that battle however as it was an aim that every woman over the age of 50 in the surrounding area to had a check up every six months.

2016 – YEAR TWO

PINK DINNER 2016

Our original target of $57,900 was almost eclipsed after the very first event, our highly popular PINK! Dinner. Hosted by Australian TV icon Denise Drysdale, the gala event raised $51,535 alone. Taking into account the other events held during October, the final total raised came in at $81,700.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT 2016

But it wasn't only events held at Lantern Club that raised money for BreastScreen NSW. Local schools, sporting and community partners also got in on the community fundraising spirit by hosting pink-themed events such as bowls, swimming, discos and morning teas. The groundswell of support for such a worthy cause was quite amazing.

WHAT THE FUNDS WERE USED FOR

All money raised was used to engage a full-time Community Engagement Officer at the BreastScreen NSW centre in Campsie. The goal was to work with Arabic, Greek, Korean, Chinese, Italian and other identified groups to provide education and increase screening rates. Communication issues and high levels of uncertainty in these communities were identified as key reasons why breast cancer screening rates in Canterbury are so low. Interpreters played a major role in breaking down the barriers of communication and there were significant increases in screening particularly by Mandarin and Cantonese speaking women.

THE MESSAGE

Statistically within the Canterbury Community there were 50 women who currently had breast cancer and didn't know it. Our mission was to find these 50 women. The message for 2016 was ‘Find the 50’. Around 5,000 women in the Canterbury region had been screened by BreastScreen NSW in the previous two years. However, there were 5,000 women in our local community who hadn’t been screened. So we urged these. women to join the Canterbury 5000 and get screened. Statistically, 50 of these women had breast cancer and didn’t know it yet. So Find the 50 was born!

￼￼2017 – YEAR THREE

Our pink campaign returns for a lucky third year again in 2017 and we are again be teaming up with BreastScreen NSW. All of the fund raising events of previous years will be mimicked in the hope to raise much needed funds as well as continuing to raise awareness in our community.

WHAT THE FUNDS WILL BE USED FOR

1. A new Encore Enspire Vacuum Assisted Biopsy (VAB) System
The VAB System is the latest technology
in vacuum assisted biopsies and produces large, quality tissue samples. It contributes to a more accurate and confident diagnosis. The benefits of the VAB System include:
• improved maneuverability for the clinician and improved comfort for the patient;
• the ability to take multiple samples;
• real-time, visual confirmations.

The VAB System will be located in the BreastScreen NSW Assessment Centre inside the Royal Prince Alfred campus.

Campsie Centre will benefit from the improved biopsy technology as further diagnostic tests would be available if required after their screening mammogram.

2. The continuation of BreastScreen NSW’s Community Engagement Officer role and interpreter resources
After the successes of Lantern Club Shines PINK 2016, a Community Engagement Officer was engaged at BreastScreen NSW where the primary role was to raise awareness of the BreastScreen NSW Campsie Centre and increase screening rates.

This year, the Community Engagement Officer will continue to work with the Campaigning and Recruitment Officer to continue a number of community-based initiatives, including:

• Delivering education sessions to community groups in the Canterbury area to raise awareness of the BreastScreen NSW Campsie facility. These sessions will be predominately aimed at women from an Arabic, Greek and Chinese speaking background.

• Increasing BreastScreen NSW’s presence within the community using a number of channels. This would include community events, interagency meetings and displays in shopping centres, libraries and other appropriate forums.

• Identifying common barriers and
enablers within different cultural communities and developing strategies to break down these barriers.

• Coordinating and implementing local targeted campaigns to raise awareness of BreastScreen NSW’s key messages and dispel any common myths within different cultural communities.
Within the last 12 months, more women from a range of different cultural backgrounds have attended the new Campsie facility. An important reason for this success is due to the employment of interpreters. Therefore, funding will also go towards maintaining interpreter services
in the Campsie Centre to assist those who speak Arabic, Mandarin and Cantonese.

3. Campaigns to reach unscreened women

Our Canterbury community has a below state average screening rate and it is therefore imperative that we reach our local women to get screened. Funds will be used to run campaigns and increase local advertising to reach non-English speaking women, specifically Chinese, Greek and Arabic women. Language barriers are one of the most common factors for low screening rates in our Canterbury region. With targeted campaigns and consistent messaging within our community, the mission is to find women who have not been screened, as detecting breast cancer in the early stages will give these women the best chance of survival. The survival rate for breast cancer is increasing every year and its early diagnosis is a big factor.
￼A joint initiative with BreastScreen NSW

￼For the initiatives in this year's Lantern Club Shines PINK campaign, we aim to
raise at least $59,000 and encourage local women to join the Canterbury 5,000!

WHAT CAN I DO TO BE INVOLVED WITH PINK IN 2017?
￼
Lantern Club and several of our sub and affiliated clubs will be hosting special events to help raise awareness and funds for BreastScreen NSW.

We are also calling on our local community to take part. Most of us have been touched by cancer in some way and this is a great opportunity to help make a difference in our community.

You’re invited to join us for a number of key events to support our fundraising efforts, including the marquee ‘PINK Fundraiser Dinner Finale’ on Tuesday 31 October in MàZi at Lantern Club. This event will be hosted by Darren Carr with live entertainment, raffles, gifts and spectacular dishes from our MàZi chefs.

Tickets for this special night are on sale online. Click here to book.

Some key PINK events include:

The official Lantern Club Shines PINK launch on Thursday 5 October, PINK Bingo on Monday 9 October and the PINK Fundraiser Dinner Finale on Tuesday 31 October.

In addition, many pink charity events from sporting days to school fundraisers will be held throughout October.

Keep up to date with all of our PINK events throughout October by visiting www.lanternclub.com.au. Don’t forget to ‘Like’ us on Facebook for regular updates on our events and campaign progress.

￼IN SUMMARY

Funds raised through our 2015 and 2016 PINK campaigns have totalled $181,700. This funding has made a significant impact on the local community especially the BreastScreen NSW service at Campsie.

We’re proud to say that now 24,000 local women are up to date with their mammograms, but this still isn’t enough!

You can help us make a difference!
￼
Breast cancer’s impact on our local community THE FACTS:

The Canterbury community has one of the lowest breast cancer screening rates in NSW.

Non-English speaking women are less likely to be screened due to language barriers.

Finding breast cancer early improves survival.

Mammograms can detect breast cancers before they can be felt or noticed.

20 minutes every two years can save your life.

The five-year relative survival rate for women diagnosed with localised breast cancer in Australia is 97%.

WHAT IS A MAMMOGRAM?

The importance of check ups of women over 50 for breast cancers can make all the difference in the world in the outcome of those who are diagnosed with the terrible disease. While sometimes a lump can be prominent and easily found, smaller tumours may go unnoticed. 58% of cancers found inside BreastScreen are small.

For those who don't know, mammography is simply an X-ray of the breast. Two different angles are taken of each breast and the images are then viewed by radiologists to look for anything out of the ordinary that may require further investigation. A diagnostic mammography may then be needed, this is to specifically target a specific area of the breast using multiple views.

COME AND GET SCREENED AT LANTERN CLUB

The BreastScreen NSW mobile van will once again be located in the carpark at Lantern Club between Tuesday 3 October to Friday 20 October. The service will be available from 8.45am to 4pm. Mammograms for women aged 40+ are free and we encourage women to call 13 20 50 to make an appointment (or call 13 14 50 for interpreter assistance). Women are also welcome to make appointments at the mobile van.